Columnist Jeff German: Mob figures look to Justice Court to resolve street dispute

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

IN THE OLD days, associates of the late Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro never would have dreamed of settling their differences in court.

That wasn't the way arguments were resolved on the streets. They usually were kept within the family.

In those days, a .22-caliber handgun or a baseball bat was the family's preferred method of dispensing justice.

Spilotro met his fate through violence in 1986. Herbie Blitzstein, his former top lieutenant, went out the same way earlier this month.

But without Spilotro to keep his troops in line, not all of his ex-cronies are seeking the usual method of justice on the streets.

Some, such as Spilotro's former driver, Sammy Spiegel, are setting new standards of civility within the underworld. Like the rest of us, they've adapted well to our litigious society.

Spiegel, who now lives in Miami Beach, Fla., recently filed suit in Las Vegas Justice Court seeking to recover a $3,000 loan he made to Joey Cusumano, another former Spilotro underling, in June 1990.

Spiegel received some notoriety years ago when he was observed in Spilotro's company at Sam's Town. Police later charged Spilotro with violating the state's Black Book laws barring undesirables from entering casinos.

In the wake of Blitzstein's murder, Cusumano has become the most recognizable Spilotro associate left in Las Vegas.

Also listed in the Black Book, Cusumano is no stranger to the courts.

In January 1991, he filed suit against attorney Harold Gewerter, alleging the lawyer owed him one-third of a $5.1 million legal fee he had received for winning a $34 million court judgment for the former landlords of the Tropicana hotel-casino.

Cusumano, once rumored to be in line to succeed Spilotro, claimed he deserved a finder's fee for introducing Gewerter to the ex-landlords, Ed and Fred Doumani.

The suit attracted the attention of the FBI and ultimately led to federal indictments of Gewerter and the Doumani brothers over the way the $34 million judgment was dispersed. The case has yet to go to trial.

Gewerter was indicted even though he had sought police protection from Cusumano and helped the FBI put the case together. Cusumano was never charged.

In his suit, Spiegel is seeking an estimated $6,000 from Cusumano to cover the unpaid $3,000 loan, 10 percent annual interest on the principal and fees for his Las Vegas lawyer, John Muije.

Court records show Cusumano signed a $3,000 promissory note on June 25, 1990, in Miami Beach.

Spiegel also has provided the court with a copy of the $3,000 check he made out to Cusumano.

The loan was made three months before someone tried to kill Cusumano as he drove into his garage in October 1990.

Cusumano's lawyer, George Kelesis, contends in court papers that Cusumano isn't obligated to pay back the money.

He charges the promissory note was signed by Cusumano under "duress" and "coercion."

Muije, meanwhile, filed a motion for summary judgment Wednesday, suggesting the facts in the case are undisputed.

Unless a more traditional underworld resolution comes into play here on the streets, Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle will have the final say in this family argument.

Spilotro must be rolling over in his grave.

* The Chicago mob may have curtailed its operations here, but law enforcement authorities suspect the Kansas City crime syndicate is stepping things up.

Lawmen last week observed Vincent Civella, reputed heir to the reins of the Kansas City Mafia, spending time in Las Vegas.

Civella, the grandson of the late Kansas City mob kingpin Carl Civella, was spotted staying at a Strip resort.

He was the latest in a string of Kansas City underworld figures who've made trips here within the past year.

Among the notorious visitors has been the younger Civella's father, Anthony Civella, a reputed ranking crime family member recently nominated for the Black Book.

Last Friday, the Nevada Gaming Commission voted to blacklist another suspected Kansas City mobster, William Cammisano. Anthony Civella's case was delayed that same day at the request of his attorney, Oscar Goodman.

After Cammisano was nominated in September, Keith Copher, the State Gaming Control Board's chief of enforcement, said agents were closely watching the Kansas City mob movements here.

Before his nomination, Cammisano had received low-level comps several times on the Strip.

Vincent Civella wasn't comped during his visit. But his presence in Las Vegas gave lawmen something more to talk about.